Burgum appears before ENR. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images
At his confirmation hearing, Interior nominee Doug Burgum told senators Thursday that coal should join natural gas in helping meet rising future power demand fueled by AI, Nick writes.
Why it matters: Coal's been on the decline for years. But the rise of AI and new domestic manufacturing has utilities already eyeing additional gas generation to keep up with demand.
- "We have a shortage of electricity, and especially we have a shortage of baseload," Burgum told the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. "We know that we have the technology to deliver clean coal."
Driving the news: The former North Dakota governor — who's expected to be easily confirmed — made the pitch during his confirmation hearing for President-elect Trump's "energy dominance" agenda.
- Top of the list: speeding up permits, regular oil and gas lease sales and round-the-clock power to meet skyrocketing demand.
- Sen. Steve Daines asked Burgum to help get permits for three coal mines in Montana — Bull Mountain, Spring Creek and Rosebud. Those projects, Burgum replied, are "part of a larger crisis our nation is facing around electricity."
- Burgum also said he would "absolutely" work to reverse the Biden resource management plan that ended coal leasing in Wyoming's Powder River Basin.
On oil and gas leasing, he said Interior's first step is to "follow the law" and to "prioritize those areas that have the most resource opportunity for America with the least impact on lands that are important."
Zoom out: Burgum is a vocal booster of carbon capture and storage, which was central to his goal to make North Dakota carbon neutral by 2030.
- Carbon capture projects — including a coal plant in North Dakota — have gotten gobs of federal money in recent years from the IRA and infrastructure law, but few are operating at scale around the country.
- Solar and wind paired with battery storage is "the future," but the U.S. needs to balance the grid with traditional baseload power — coal, gas and nuclear — in the near term, Burgum said.
Zoom in: Burgum indicated he wouldn't advocate a full stop on offshore wind development amid Trump's threats to halt all the industry's projects.
- "If they make sense, and they're already law, then they'll continue," he told the panel.
- He also called environmental permitting delays "one of the challenges of our time" and backed speedier buildout of electricity transmission, which is notable given that big power lines frequently must pass over a patchwork of federal land.
- "It's one thing to be able to generate that electricity, but if we don't have the ability to transmit it to places where it's needed, that's going to be a problem."
The big picture: Like DOE nominee Chris Wright yesterday, Burgum steered clear of partisan answers and won some plaudits from non-Republicans.
- "A lot of people talk about an all-of-the-above energy strategy. You did it," said Sen. Angus King, an independent.
What we're watching: Burgum repeatedly criticized the IRA's clean power investment and production tax credits, as well as the EV credit.
- He could play a role in determining their fate as chair of Trump's National Energy Council.
